Christmas Dinner

[Subdeacon Joe]

At first my wife was insistent on spiral sliced ham.  Then she found this:
 

Slow-Cooker Sauerbraten

Ingredients

 

1 beef bouillon cube

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small beef top or bottom round roast (2 pounds)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup crushed thin ginger cookies (about 10)

1 tablespoon pickling spice, wrapped in a cheesecloth bundle

1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

4 stalks celery, cut into 3-inch pieces, leaves torn

3 large carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces

8 ounces egg noodles

 

Directions

Dissolve the bouillon cube in 1/4 cup warm water and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper. Add to the skillet and cook, turning with tongs, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Remove to a plate.

Add the tomato paste to the pan and cook, stirring, until browned and slightly dry, about 30 seconds. Add the vinegar and the bouillon mixture, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Transfer the mixture to a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker along with the beef, ginger cookies, cheesecloth bundle, onion, chopped celery and carrots. Cover and cook on low until the meat is very tender, 8 hours.

Before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook as the label directs. Drain and divide among shallow bowls. Transfer the beef to a cutting board and slice. Discard the cheesecloth bundle. Serve the beef, vegetables and sauce over the noodles and top with the celery leaves.

 

Pretty good.  Breakfast, around 11 a.m. was bagels with smoked salmon (thanks to Imperfect Produce throwing in an unordered 4 oz package of smoked salmon), cream cheese, capers, and shaved shallots.  

Life is hard.

In a little while I'll pull the fruitcake out and slice into it.

[Deacon Henry, SASS #53503L]

Joe so the beef was good? I did a sauerbraten last week in the slow cooker and it sucked all the flavor out of the beef. The beef marinated for 5 days. Red cabbage was a good and packaged noodles were good with the gingersnap gravy. Ill have to try this..BTW tonight was beef tenderloin steak, baked potato and spinach. Dessert was from the store. Merry Christmas!

[Subdeacon Joe]

The beef was very good.   A touch dry, which always strikes me as odd considering it was in the crock pot.  But good beefy flavor that held up to the rich and spicy gravy.

 

I've done the traditional sauerbraten that is in marinade for 3 to 5 days and had mixed results.  I think a lot depends on the sear you put on the beef.   

 

Your dinner sounds wonderful.  

 

Merry Christmas to you too,  sir.

 

[Calamity Kris]

I'll dig up my recipe for crock pot sauerbraten and post it.  I've made it several times and never had a bad result.  It's a tad different than yours.

 

Our dinner tonight was tomahawk steak smothered in a whisky mushroom reduction sauce, grilled asparagus and a baked potato.  Dessert was home made gluten free lebkuchen.  Uno had not been feeling well all afternoon so he went to bed shortly after dinner. 

[Calamity Kris]

My Old World Sauerbraten

 

3 1/2 to 4 lbs beef rump or sirloin tip roast

1 Cup water

1 Cup vinegar (I use apple cider)

1 large onion, sliced

1 lemon sliced, (unpeeled)

10 whole cloves

4 Bay leaves

6 whole peppecorns

2 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar (I use light brown)

12 Ginger Snaps

 

Place the meat in a deep ceramic or glass bowl.  Combine water, vinegar, onion, lemon, cloves, bay leaves, pepper salt and sugar.  Pour over meat.  Cover and refrigerate 24 to 36 hours, turning several times during marinating.  Place meat in slow cooker.  Pour 1 cup marinade over meat (I strain mine to keep the cloves etc out).  Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.  Place meat on serving platter.  Strain meat juices and return to pot.  Turn pot to high.  Stir in gingersnaps, cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes.  Pour over meat.  Makes 8 servings.

[Subdeacon Joe]

3 hours ago, Calamity Kris said:

My Old World Sauerbraten

 

Thanks.  Yours is more of a traditional style with the meat in a marinade for a day or two. 

 

I've done several versions that way.  All came out good.  But this one day version is just as good.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

Just the two of us last night, ham slice, mashed potatoes( boxed type), green beans. Just some left over mashed(  made a larger batch). Put them in a zip bag and the wife can have them with some left over chicken/onion gravy as a snack. Gravy was left over from a baked chicken recipe we had earlier this week